Process and machine for treating and shearing fabric sleeves having a nap



March 1955 A. w. SCHMIDT PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR TREATING AND SHEARINGFABRIC SLEEVES HAVING A NAP Filed July 14, 1954 INVENTOR ARNOLD W.SCHMIDT TTORNEYS United States Patent PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR TREATINGAND SHEARING FABRIC SLEEVES HAVING A NAP Arnold W. Schmidt, Beloit,Wis., assignor to Great Lakes Mills, Inc., Beloit, Wis., a corporationApplication July 14, 1954, Serial No. 443,281

12 Claims. (Cl. 26-15) This invention appertains to a novel process andmachine for treating and shearing the pile of elongated fabric cylindersor sleeves having a nap, whereby to produce an even peripheral surface,and thus permit effective use of such sleeves on paint rollers and thelike. The sleeves can be, and preferably are, of the type shown in mypending application Serial Number 411,644, filed February 23, 1954, andentitled Seamless Covers for Paint Rollers.

The sleeves can be knitted on machines the same as, or similar to, thedevice shown in the expired patent to Moore, No. 1,849,466, issued March15, 1932.

It is customary in the knitting art to produce a continuous fabricsleeve of large diameter having a deep pile of natural or syntheticfibers, such as rayon, nylon, dynel, etc., and to cut this sleeve inlengths longitudinally to provide a flat piece of goods. These flatpieces can be easily treated by a so-called electrifying process toraise and straighten out the fibers in the pile, and the pile can bereadily cut evenly on a shearing machine of a well known type.

Where sleeves are knitted of a small exact diameter for fitting on paintrollers, the treatment of the fibers of the pile raises a new problemand the cylindrical sleeves cannot be treated or sheared in the samemanner as a fiat piece, as described above.

It is, therefore, one of the salient objects of my invention to providea novel process for effectively removing long and loose fibers and thenshearing the fibers at an exact point whereby to produce a knittedcylindrical sleeve having a smooth even peripheral surface.

Another salient object of my invention is the provision of meansincluding an elongated cylindrical wire comb of a type similar to a combknown in the carding trade as a fancy comb for engaging the fibers ofthe cylinder or sleeve for pulling and straightening out the fibers sothat the same can be cut evenly by a rotatable shearing machine.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a rotatable mandrelfor receiving and supporting the fabric sleeve in a predeterminedrelation to the bed knife and knife cylinder of a shearing machine, arotatable wire comb for engaging the pile of the sleeve prior to themeeting of the pile with the shearing machine and means for rotating themandrel, comb and shearing cylinder at pifidetermined speeds anddirections relative to one an- 0 er.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a machine forcarrying out my process embodying a reel having a plurality of mandrelsfor receiving the fabric sleeves, and means for advancing the reel stepby step to automatically bring a desired sleeve and mandrel in operativeposition relative to the comb and shearing machine.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel construction, arrangement and formation of parts as will behereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of a machine for carrying out myimproved process, parts of the machine being shown broken away and intransverse section;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a treated and sheared fabric cylinderprior to the cutting thereof into lengths for use as paint rollercovers.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar refice erencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter M generally indicates the improved machine for carrying outmy process of treating and shearing elongated fabric sleeves having anap, as indicated by the reference character S.

The sleeve S consists of a knitted base fabric 3 having incorporatedtherewith during the knitting thereof, fibers to form a deep pile 4. Thesleeve after being knitted can be mounted on a cylindrical core or thesleeve after being cut in lengths can be placed over the desired cores.

The machine M includes a frame 5 securely mounted on a base 6 ordirectly to the floor of a mill, as may be desired. The frame 5 includesa pair of spaced end castings 7 and these castings carry bearings 8 forrotatably supporting a shaft 9. The shaft 9 has mounted thereon theshearing cylinder 10, and this cylinder has secured thereto spiralshearing knives 11. Also secured to the castings 8 is a verticallydisposed bed knife 12 and during the rotation of the shearing cylinder10 the spiral knives 11 sweep past the cutting edge of the bed knife.The cylinder can be driven by an electric motor 13 through the use ofpulleys and a drive belt 14. The parts of the machine just described aresimilar to or the same as conventional shearing machines.

In accordance with my invention, I provide means for supporting thefabric pile sleeves to be treated in a predetermined position relativeto the shearing cylinder and the bed knife and for rotating the sleevesand for simultaneously combing and pulling out and straightening thepile of the sleeves. This can be accomplished in different manners, anda rotatable mandrel driven at a predetermined speed can be positionedadjacent to the meeting cutting edges of the bed knife and the spiralknives 11. Likewise a rotatable wire comb is located in a predeterminedposition and driven at a desired speed for contacting the fibers of thepile during the rotation of the mandrel and the sleeve therewith. Inorder to place my process on a production basis, it is preferred toautomatically feed the mandrels and the fabric sleeves successively tothe shearing machine and to provide a definite station for applying thesleeves to the mandrels and for removing the finished sleeves from themandrels. To carry this out, I employ a rotatable reel 15 and this reelincludes end hub plates 16 having radially extending arms 17, preferablyat quarters. The terminals of the arms rotatably support mandrels 18 forthe sleeves S and these mandrels are constantly rotated at a certainspeed, as will hereinafter be set forth. Each mandrel has securedthereto a pinion 19 and these pinions 19 form a part of the drive forthe mandrels. The reel itself is keyed or otherwise secured to alongitudinally extending shaft 20, and this shaft and the reel rotate asa unit. The shaft is rotatably mounted in bearings carried by the endcastings 7 in front of the shearing cylinder 10. The pinions 19 meshwith idle pinions 21 rotatably carried by the arms 17 of the reel, andall of the idle pinions mesh with a main drive gear rotatably mounted onthe shaft 20. The main gear 22 can be rotated from an electric motor 23securely fastened to one of the end castings 7, and this motor throughpulleys and a drive belt 24 rotates a gear 25 meshing with the main gear22. By this arrangement of parts, it can be seen that the mandrels arerotated at all times irrespective of the movement of the reel, whichmovement will be later set forth.

The reel is rotated a quarter of a turn so as to bring a mandrel and asleeve directly in front of the shearing cylinder and slightly above thecutting edge of the bed knife 12. With the mandrel in its operativeposition the axis of the cylinder shaft 19 and the mandrel arepreferably in the same horizontal plane. Upon rotation of the reel aquarter of a revolution, the mandrel directly in front of the cylinderis held in such position for a desired length of time to bring about thecorrect treatment of the fibers of the sleeve and the shearing thereof.The driving and the holding of the reel can take various forms, and Ihave shown one of such forms in the drawing. As illustrated, the reelshaft 20 has keyed or otherwise secured thereto a Geneva gear 26, andmeshing with this gear is a toothed gear 27. It is to be noted that thegear 27 is provided only with two closely arranged teeth, and theseteeth are so spaced relative to the teeth of the gear 26 that upon onecomplete rotation of the gear 27, the gear 26 and consequently the reel,will be rotated a quarter of a revolution and the gear 26 will then beheld against rotation by the smooth periphery of gear 27.

The toothed gear 27 can be constantly rotated by a pulley 28 from anelectric motor 29 and this motor can be mounted directly on the base 6should such be desired.

Forming an important part of my invention is the provision of mechanicalmeans for pulling and straightening out the fibers of the pile on thesleeve at the time of the shearing thereof and hence I provide anelongated wire carding comb 30 of a type known in the trade as a fancycomb. The hundreds of minute wires of the comb engage the pile andeffectively remove and comb the fibers. In view of the fact that themandrels are successively brought into shearing position, it isnecessary to lift the comb 30 up and out of the way of an oncomingmandrel during the partial rotation of the reel. This is accomplished byrotatably mounting the comb 30 on a swinging frame 31. This frame hasits forward edge adjacent to the comb 30 provided with an inclined orcam face 32. The upper end of the frame is mounted for rocking orswinging movement on a shaft 33 carried by bearings mounted on uprights34 forming a continuation of the end castings 7. The position of theframe 31 relative to the arms 17 of the reel is such that upon turningof the reel an arm 17 will engage the front face of the frame 31 so asto swing the frame and its comb upwardly and rearwardly. As the armreaches the inclined or cam face 32, the frame will be raised a desiredheight, momentarily, so that the sleeve S to be treated will sweep underthe comb and as soon as the sleeve passes the comb the frame and thecomb will automatically fall to a lowered position with the comb bearingagainst the pile of the sleeve.

It is preferred and highly desirable to comb the fibers previous to orduring the shearing operation, but if desired the comb can be located atanother preferred point, and in fact the sleeves can be treated to aninitial combing step prior to the movement of a sleeve to its operativeshearing position. Thus, I have shown a second comb indicated by thereference character 35 rotatably mounted on suitable bearing bracketscarried by the upper ends of the uprights 34. This comb 35 immediatelyengages a sleeve supported by a mandrel as the mandrel reaches a topmostposition, and the comb 35 can be driven through the medium of a pulley36 operated from an electric motor 37. The motor 37 can be carried byone of the uprights 34.

In order to add weight to the swinging frame 31, I preferably mount thedrive motor 38 for the comb 30 directly on the frame 31, and the comb 30can be driven from the motor 38 by a pulley belt 39.

If desired, the elongated sleeve can be cut into desired lengths beforeremoval from the reel, and just after the treating and shearing process.can consist of a desired number of disc shaped slitting knives 40 keyedor otherwise secured to a shaft 41. The shaft can be driven from a belt42 operated from the electric motor 43. The motor can be secured to thebase 6 or any other appropriate part of the machine.

It can be seen that the mandrel at the extreme front of the machineconstitutes the loading and unloading station and that a mandrel at thetop of the machine constitutes a first treatment station for a sleeveand that the mandrel and the sleeve at the extreme rear end of the reelconstitutes the final treating and shearing station. The lowermost reeland sleeve constitute the slitting station.

It is to be noted that the shearing cylinder rotates in acounter-clockwise direction and that the mandrel with the fabric sleeverotates in a clockwise direction. The comb 30 preferably rotates in acounterclockwise direction so that the fibers will be flulfed up in thedirection of rotation of the mandrel and its sleeve. Likewise, theshearing cylinder rotates at a relatively high rate of speed, say from500 to 900 revolutions per minute, while the mandrel and its sleeverotate at a slower rate of speed, say from 10 to 30 revolutions perminute. The comb can be driven at a slightly higher rate of speed thanthe mandrel and its sleeve but at a greatly reduced speed in comparisonto the shearing cylinder. Thus the comb can be driven from 20 to 100revolutions per minute.

By rotating the sleeve in front of the shearing cylinder ,10, and bycombing the pile, I can give the napped sleeve The cutting mechanism l asmooth, even peripheral surface and this is the essence of my improvedprocess.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or thescope of my invention but what I claim as new is:

l. The process of treating a knitted fabric sleeve having a pile toproduce an even smooth peripheral surface which consists in rotating anuntreated pile sleeve in front of a shearing machine and combing outthefibers of the pile as the pile is presented to the shearing machine.

2. The process of producing a smooth even peripheral surface on knittedsleeves having a deep pile which consists in rotating a sleeve in frontof a rapidly rotating shearing cylinder and combing out the fibers ofthe pile during the shearing operation by a comb rotating at a higherrate of speed than the sleeve but at a less rate of speed than theshearing cylinder.

3. The process of producing a smooth even peripheral surface on aknitted sleeve having a deep pile which consists in first rotating thesleeve at a slow rate of speed to a shearing machine at the point ofmeeting of the bed knife and cylinder of the machine with the cylinderrotating at a high rate of speed relative to the sleeve and second,fiufiing up and combing the fibers of the pile by a rotating wire combengaging the sleeve during the shearing process. I

4. The process of producing a smooth even peripheral surface on aknitted sleeve having a deep pile which consists in rotating the sleeve,initially combing out the fibers of the sleeve by a rotating wire comb,second, holding the sleeve with the combed fibers against the bed knifeof a cylindrical shearing machine and subjecting the fibers to asecondcombing process by a wire comb during the shearing operation.

5. The process as defined in claim 4, and with the cylinder of theshearing machine and the sleeve rotating in opposite directions.

6. A machine for producing a smooth even peripheral surface on a knittedsleeve having a deep pile comprising a bed knife, a rotating cylinderhaving knives moving past the bed knife, means for rotating thecylinder, a mandrel arranged adjacent to and in front of the bed knifefor receiving and rotating a sleeve with a pile, means for rotating themandrel at a less rate of speed than the cylinder, and a cylindricalcarding comb engaging the fibers of the pile of the fabrics, and meansfor rotating the comb.

7. A machine as defined in claim 6, the mandrel and the cylinder beingrotated in opposite directions.

8. A machine for producing an even peripheral surface on an elongatedknitted sleeve having a deep pile comprising a frame, a verticallydisposed bed knife mounted on the frame having an upper cutting edge, ashearing cylinder rotatable on the frame having knives movable past thebed knife, means for rotating the cylinder, a rotatable reel mounted onthe frame in front of the bed knife and cylinder having a plurality ofarms, rotatable mandrels carried by the arms, means for constantlyrotating the mandrels, the mandrels being adapted to receive the sleevesto be treated and sheared, means for rotating the reel in a step by stepmotion by bringing the mandrel and a sleeve in operative positionrelative to the bed knife and shearing cylinder, and a rotatable cardingcomb carried by the frame for engagement with the pile of a sleeve forcombing out the fibers and means for rotating the comb.

9. A machine as defined in claim 8, and means for slitting a shearedsleeve on a mandrel after the shearing process.

10. A machine for producing an even smooth peripheral surface on anelongated sleeve having a deep pile comprising a frame, a verticallydisposed bed knife on the frame having an upper cutting edge, arotatable shearing cylinder on the frame having knives movable past thebed knife, means for rotating the cylinder, a rotatable reel mounted onthe frame in front of the bed knife and cylinder having a plurality ofradially extending arms, mandrels rotatably carried by the knives, meansfor constantly rotating the mandrels, the mandrels receiving the knittedsleeves, means for rotating the reel step by step to successively bringa mandrel and a knitted sleeve in operative position relative to the bedknife and cylinder, a swinging frame mounted above the bed knife, a wirecomb rotatably carried by the frame for movement into and out ofengagement with the pile of a sleeve in operative position relative tothe bed knife and cylinder, means for rotating the comb, and means forraising the frame and comb to a non-operative position during turningmovement of the reel.

11. A machine as defined in claim 10, and means for slitting a sleeveinto lengths after movement of a sleeve out of its operative positionrelative to the bed knife an d cylinder.

12. A machine as defined in claim 10, and a second rotatable wirecarding comb engaging the pile of a sleeve on a mandrel prior to themovement of the sleeve and mandrel to the operative position relative tothe bed 5 knife and cylinder.

No references cited.

